Everybody Dance Now! The story behind C+C Music Factory’s biggest hit…
There was a period, sometime around late 1990/early 1991, when you couldn’t turn on the radio without an enthusiastic voice declaring, “EVERYBODY DANCE NOW..!”
Today, 24 January, marks the anniversary of the death of David Cole, a songwriter and record producer who was best known as one half of C+C Music Factory, alongside Robert Clivillés.
Having scored their biggest hit in November 1990 with Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now), Cole’s later years – he died in 1995, following AIDS-related complications – were sadly not spent toasting the success of both that single and the international hits that followed, which included Things That Make You Go Hmmm and Here We Go.
Rather, the Tennessee-born producer and his songwriting partner were caught up in a series of legal battles, over both the origin of samples used in the group’s hits, as well as over the rights to the band itself… a battle that continues to this day.
As a fascinating article on Vice.com, from 2016, reveals, “In 1991, Martha Wash, who sang the huge vocal hook in “Everybody Dance Now,” sued the group after another C+C Music Factory vocalist, Zelma Davis, lip-synced her parts in the song’s music video. The case was settled out of court, with Sony requesting that MTV add a disclaimer to the video crediting Wash for vocals and Davis for ‘visualization’.
“According to Rolling Stone, Wash’s fight for proper credit set an important precedent for artists’ rights in intellectual property law; following her case, federal legislation was created to mandate vocal credits on all albums and music videos.”
Confused? Just think how Clivillés and Cole felt…
You can find the full article here
About Post Author
